With her album L’eau et les rêves, released on March 24, singer-songwriter N NAO offers a work between experimental folk and dream pop. A sound that makes you soar and that the artist describes as a culmination.
Naomie De Lorimier knows music. The legacy of his grandfather, who listened to opera, the support of his family, which allowed him to immerse himself in the arts from a young age, his studies in jazz singing: all these elements and more allowed the artist, who we now know as N NAO, to flourish in his musical exploration over the years and to come to the point today of presenting the album L’eau et les dreams.
“I’ve always wanted to perform,” she says in an interview, a few days before the release of her second album. I listened to a lot of music. It was when I studied jazz singing, [at Cégep de] Saint-Laurent, that I knew this would be my life. »
Her debut came just after her studies, when she presented experimental shows on the Montreal underground scene. To her vocals, she added the impact of effect pedals. The musician, also a cellist, plays with sounds, creates music of her own. During a stay of several months in Berlin, after CEGEP, she presents a performance of instrumental music and the reception makes her dream. “The tavern was full and I realized there were plenty of people who wanted all kinds of different music. There was an audience for what I was doing. »
His musical project continues to evolve, until the creation of N NAO. “I started writing with the guitar,” says the artist. I released Never Forever, my first self-produced record. It was my first attempt at making less experimental songs. »
The meeting with Charles Marsolais-Ricard, who is closely involved in the creations of N NAO (notably in co-production, but also musically), was important for Naomie. Over time, other musicians have marked her career, including director Jean-Bruno Pinard (Thierry Larose, Anatole, Ariane Brunet), with whom she has also collaborated since the beginning of the project.
Now under the banner of the Mothland record company, the artist feels better surrounded than ever, understood, but also supported.
“With the album we’re releasing today, I feel grounded in the intersection between song and more conceptual and experimental research. In her calm voice, her calm and sure tone, Naomie explains to us that she feels on her X. Everything seems to have led her to this precise moment, where her past explorations meet.
On Water and Dreams, N NAO experiments with a creation that touches on esotericism. The title says it, water and dreams play a big role in the composition and the writing. “My dreams were a research element,” says the singer-songwriter. I trained for more lucid dreams, to be able to find ideas in them. I took my guitar and I recorded memories or strong moments. »
As for the element of water, it is for her “a way of [to] meditate”, she who loves to bathe. “Charles [Marsolais-Ricard] gave me the book L’eau et les rêves, after writing the album. It says that water is the very substance of dreams. »
Composed mainly “on the guitar or on the pedal”, his new album is rich in melodies, in instrumental flights, while being overwhelmingly delicate. The sound layers accumulate and fit together. N NAO masters the art of sampling, which is reflected in his music as well as in his life. “I take a lot of photos, videos, pick flowers, take sound samples,” she explains. I am a hyper intuitive person, I like to be in the game and the exploration. I think [sampling] makes music very intimate. It becomes a window on pieces of my life. »
“I tried to find comfort in the writing or the melodies, like to heal myself through this album,” she continues. Now that it exists for others, Naomie is already ready for the sequel, she who has never stopped writing. “Each time we released [snippets] of the album, I felt lighter, it made room for new ideas. I feel inspired. »
